Burda Magazine Combo Shorts

I continue on my seemingly never ending quest to get through my own personal Fabric Mountain.  I bought this purple linen with the intention of making shorts about two years ago.  The pattern is a combination of two from Burda magazine; one too short and the other too wide.  I made the short shorts before, about which I was left with a long list of internal complaints.  Now I have these, with their own list.

The One Trick Party Pony

Once I’m on to a good idea I find it hard to let go.  I will possibly be making my children piñatas out of cardboard boxes for their 40^th birthdays.  All my youngest wanted for his 7th birthday was a few friends over to watch a movie, bless his little homebody socks.  His movie of choice was Despicable Me 2, one I have a soft spot for myself.  The obvious choice for hitting repeatedly with a large bat was the Purple Minion.  It also just happened to be an easy shape to make out of a cardboard box.  I used with the same basic structure as the Ghast Pinata I made for his big brother's birthday.  The original design of which coming from Domestic Femme.  It was a big hit (excuse the pun) with the little kids but it was lucky my older and stronger nephews were there or we would have been there all night.

 

Slow Fashion Just got Slower

I have spent this term learning pattern making with St George and Sutherland Community College, and loved every minute of it.  I had to get over the sick "I'm in over my head" feeling in the first lesson, but thanks to a great teacher and taking things a step at a time I got quite far along the road.  It unraveled a lot of the mystery of patterns.  Drawing them up was more like an exercise in geometry than creative genius.  It was an extremely satisfying process for my mind that is clearly far less terrified of maths than imagination.

A Change of Name - What do you Think?

I've been thinking about changing the name of my blog.  I'm not worried about losing readers, as I certainly don't have many, and intend to make it clear where I can be found in the future.  While it was coming up with the name that finally got me to sit down and start posting, it hasn't really stood the test of time for me, its too long and not very evocative.

I'm considering

• The Hare and the Tortoise (although this very nice blog exists already)
• The Snails Pace
• A Snails Pace of Life
• It's a Snails Life
• The Snail and the Tortoise

As you can see I've got a bit of a snail thing going on, the underdog of the cute crafting movement. 

I don't usually invite comments in my posts, due to my low readership and not wanting to watch the tumbleweed roll by the comments section.  But here goes..... Any thoughts on the name change?

Space Station Costume

The school's book week always fills me with a mix of fear and ambition.  Particularly so this year as my son was still mentally scarred by the supposed Harry Potter costume I threw together in two minutes for the school disco.  It's rubbish-ness did not escape the attention of the other kids there.

I love that my kids think outside the box for costumes, not stopping to consider whether their ideas might be humanly possible. For the first time this year the book parade had a theme, Space.  Despite the fact I don't think this theme has much to do with books, or lends itself to costumes brilliantly, we rose to the challenge.

Weighted Vest - Hopefully the Ugliest Thing I Ever Make

A year or so ago a wonderful teaching assistant at my son's school recommended I make a weighted vest to help him settle in class.  They are known to calm kids with autism spectrum, sensory processing, attention and anxiety disorders.  They work upon the same principle as feeling cosy under a thick blanket, I know I do, I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one.

I watched Temple Grandin the other night and it seems the idea initially came from her being hugely calmed by some sort of cow squeezing machine, I don't know what it is, I'm a city girl.  Temple Grandin has been a pretty revolutionary force in the understanding and treatment of people with autism spectrum disorders.  As I google this I realise there are machines on the market for humans that do the same job, but a vest seems a lot more practical for a mainstream classroom.

It's the Thought That Counts

I have a 70's pattern book that has some pretty groovy threads in, and some pretty awful ones too.  One of the patterns is for a very cute Angel Top which I enjoy making for friends with little girls.  One of my good friend's twins recently (read several months ago) turned one.  They are a boy and a girl and I was keen to make the Angel top for the little girl.  It's a pattern I've made many time, but it's incredible how I can still get things wrong.  My only mistake was turning the sleeves up a little too much, but given that I can't fit it to the baby it's all guess work anyway.